Custer State Park wildlife loop is a great ride and so is Needles Highway. Give the buffalos a wide birth on that wildlife loop though. They DO charge motorcycles! I have the stained shorts to remind me of that. Wind Cave is a fun diversion. Take a side trip off the interstate on the way to or from Sturgis and ride through Badlands National Park. Deadwood, Custer, and Spearfish are nice to visit. Devils Tower is a must see. Iron Horse and Mt. Rushmore will give you a chance to kill the better part of a day.

 

+1

The awesome majesty of the great plains of SD and the high plains of WY eastern MT may take a little time for people from more (sub)urban places to appreciate.

I-90 in SD is one of the last bastions of the old-school 'roadside attraction'. They're fun, if you're in the right mindset. Wall Drug, Reptile World, Hall of Presidents, 1880 Town, Pioneer Car Museum, the museum at the Air Force base in Box Elder (forget the name--lots of B-1s flying overhead), the Corn Palace in Mitchell.....lot and lots and lots. Just enjoy!

There isn't really a bad ride in SD. But flatlanders tend to like the twisties in the Black Hills, and they are good rides.

Try venturing a little further and riding to Devil's Tower, too.

And if you have time to go further west........it just gets better

 

Exactly what I have been doing. I always go the week before the rally and leave the day the rally officially starts. There are still hundreds of thousands of bikes there, but you can visit all the great sights without the huge mob scene you get the week of the rally. Finding a place to stay is also a lot easier the week before the rally.

 

Check out Deadwood, cool old western town. At least to someone from the east coast. lol.

 

Go the week before. Way more fun and less crowded. Make sure and ride through the Black Hills. If you have more time go further west and go into the Big Horns and up into Beartooth Pass. Beautiful all the way from the Black Hills the the West side of Wyoming

 

I take it you haven't been to Utah?

 

As others have done, we go the week before (now that we are old) and leave Sunday before the official start. Get in a lot of less crowded riding, and the vendors are usually all set up on the Thursday before we leave. Still crowded Sat and Sun and you get to see all the characters without quite the zoo.

 

Hell son... I thought Brats were illegal West of the Missisippi... lol


Christian

 

[quote=Led Zeppelin;6310408]I know there's been a lot of threads about heading to Sturgis. Such as places to stay, etc. I'm planning on finally going this year and what I'd like you know is if you're headed there, what are some of the things you just can't miss. I'm talking about the sights, sounds, places, and experiences that go down as something you'll remember.


quote]


Great thread... My wife and I are going for the first time... I'll be watching this one. We have reservations at a quaint little B&B in Custer. Of course we'll be doing the touristy Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse but want to get in some rides as well. We plan on going up to Sturgis just to check it out but aren't going to make that the main focus of our trip. We want to see Deadwood and Spearfish... yadda yadda... We've never been "Out West" before and will be looking for things to do. We're leaving from the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area on Saturday 8/7 and stopping in Jackson MN for the night before continuing on to Custer. If there are any other riders leaving from my area that want to ride along with us send me a PM.


Christian
Cleveland, Wisconsin

 

Mt Rushmore and if you are close at all go to yellowstone. we went in 08 and had more fun riding around than anything else!